


Bulletproof

by svtstarlight



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:19:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6895252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svtstarlight/pseuds/svtstarlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kris isn't the person Chanyeol thinks he is. He's a very high-ranking member of the EXO Organisation, a group of mysterious and ruthless killers. But then again, Chanyeol isn't the person Kris knows him to be either. But who/what is Chanyeol and what does it all have to do with why someone wants Chanyeol dead? And an old acquaintance re-enters their lives unexpectedly.</p><p>Mentions of past Baekhyun/Chanyeol... and mentions of Yixing, Lu Han, and Kyungsu/D.O.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bulletproof

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for an exchange on LJ ages ago and posted to AFF. And now posted here. :D I had intended to write a sequel but life kinda got in the way, and then... yeah. *shrugs and sighs*

"Don't believe everything you hear," Kris whispered to Chanyeol, pulling him close as they made their way through Beijing airport, hordes of screaming fans pushing and shoving each other for a better glimpse at their idol. "Just saying..."

Blinking at his boyfriend/bodyguard in confusion, Chanyeol kept his trademark smile in place for the cameras and fans, ignoring the strange sense of foreboding in Kris' words. Why was Kris telling him this now, and in a foreign airport, of all places? Determined to find out what was going on, Chanyeol resolved to be patient. He'd learned the hard way that when he wanted something badly enough, he had to wait for it. 

Everything except the one thing he wanted most. Chanyeol's expression faltered for a moment as he thought of his previous lover, Byun Baekhyun, a singer with a voice that had made his legs turn to jelly and his heart ache fiercely. 

_Baekhyunnie, why did you have to do that?_ he thought sadly, his head down to hide the sudden tears in his eyes. _I thought we were happy? I miss you so much, you have no idea..._

Chanyeol would never get the chance to see or hear Baekhyun again, because he'd killed himself at the tender age of twenty-two, at the height of their popularity. It had taken Chanyeol several years to recover from the shock and he was only just starting to get back on his feet, both personally and professionally, with his new boyfriend and a new tour. 

"...-your expressions, Chanyeol," Chanyeol heard Kris murmur, giving his boyfriend a sheepish smile. He had completely missed the first part of what Kris had said.

Sighing with exasperation, Kris shook his head. "I said, you need to watch your expressions, Chanyeol," he repeated, rolling his eyes as he opened the car door and waited for Chanyeol to get in before slipping in beside him. "I don't know what you were thinking, but I'm sure everyone in the airport thought you weren't happy with them..."

Turning to Kris, his expression earnest, Chanyeol flailed as he tried to explain himself. "No, no, that's not it at all!" he exclaimed, waving his hands. "I was just..."

Kris peered at him when he stopped, that same sad, pensive look appearing on Chanyeol's face again. "You were just...?" he prompted, when Chanyeol fell silent. "What?"

"I was just thinking about Baekhyun," Chanyeol murmured, lowering his eyes so he was looking at Kris' muscular chest. "I can't help it, Kris. I miss him so much..."

Sighing, Kris looked around surreptitiously to make sure there were no fans (or cameras) around before folding Chanyeol into his arms, hugging him gently. 

"I thought we'd gotten past this," he murmured softly, just the tiniest amount of pain lacing his voice. "Baekhyun is gone, and while I know you loved him, I'm the one who's here for you now, and I'm not going anywhere." When Chanyeol made a small sound of grief at his words, Kris went on. "I mean it. I don't know why he did what he did, but I can assure you I won't make the same mistake. I love you more than my own life, and that includes living for you, as well as dying..."

Chanyeol pushed him away, tears in his eyes. "You won't die," he hissed almost angrily, jabbing at Kris' chest with a finger. "Promise me! I don't care that you're paid to be my bodyguard, you're not going to die on me, is that clear?"

"Chanyeol," Kris began, catching his boyfriend's hands and holding them gently, his chest aching from where Chanyeol had poked him. He hadn't been holding back and obviously didn't know his own strength. "That hurts. Stop it..." 

Chuckling softly, he lowered his head and began to kiss Chanyeol, knowing they were far out of range of even the most zealous fan's or news photographer's cameras. When Kris judged that Chanyeol had calmed down enough, he pulled back and smiled.

"It'll be fine," he reassured the younger man quietly, still smiling. "So don't worry. And I'll do my best to remind you every day that I love and care for you, so you won't have to think about Baekhyun anymore except as a momentary blip of sadness. So that you can move on." 

Kris lifted Chanyeol's chin with his fingers so he could see his eyes. 

"I don't expect it to happen overnight, but what's done is done. I'm here and I'm not leaving." He got a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that Chanyeol couldn't help but respond to, smiling in return. "Not even if you fire me..."

It was Chanyeol's turn to smile cheekily, nosing at Kris' cheek and smirking. 

"I might have no choice but to fire you, though," he murmured in a low, husky voice, the smirk growing wider at Kris' facial expression and body language. He was having way too much fun teasing his boyfriend, and he had a feeling Kris knew it, but he wasn't going to stop. Chanyeol leaned closer, his hand riding up Kris' jeans-clad thigh. "If you don't shut up and kiss me like you mean it..."

Kris growled low in his throat and grabbed Chanyeol, kissing him hard, just as he'd intended, their make-out session lasting until they arrived at the hotel, sweaty, dishevelled, and aroused beyond belief. It was the only way Chanyeol knew to get the other man to help him forget Baekhyun, even if it was only temporary.

 

The organisers gave Chanyeol a week to get used to being in Beijing, going out with Kris on sightseeing dates occasionally when they had the time. Near the halfway point of this grace period, while waiting for Kris to park their hired car in their hotel's vast parking lot, Chanyeol overheard a couple of girls gossiping. On hearing Kris' Chinese name, he inched closer to hear more. 

"That Wu Fan, or whatever he's calling himself these days, has a lot of nerve coming back here after what happened to Lu Han," she sniffed to her wide-eyed friend, the other girl quick to nod. 

"And with a new one too," the second girl said, her friend sighing. "That Korean rapper, Chanyeol. He's cute, Mei Lin." 

"I know," Mei Lin replied, a dreamy look in her eyes. "I hope Wu Fan hasn't gotten his hooks into him too. I'd hate for him to die like Lu Han did. And anyway, he belongs to us, the fans, not some creepy-looking bodyguard who may or may not be a killer."

The two girls laughed as the second girl teasingly berated her friend for sounding like a creepy stalker fan, and Chanyeol felt a chill pass over him, shivering at what the girls had said. Surely it could all be explained away, though, whoever this Lu Han had been. He would have to ask Kris about Lu Han and let him explain.

If he thought the revelations about his boyfriend's past had finished, Chanyeol soon found himself mistaken. Biting his lip anxiously, he debated going up to the hotel room by himself despite the fact that Kris had the only key, just so he wouldn't have to listen anymore, but his natural curiosity kept him rooted to the spot. 

"But you know, Luhan wasn't the only one," the second girl told Mei Lin, looking smug when her friend turned to stare at her in surprise. "Did you not hear about that child star from Changsha, Zhang Yixing?" When Mei Lin shook her head, she went on. "He died too, and the rumour is, Wu Fan was involved in his death as well."

"No way, Xu Lia!" Mei Lin exclaimed, shocked and looking around nervously. "Are you sure? You could get into a lot of trouble repeating stuff that isn't true, you know..."

"It was in the papers there and all over the news at the time," Xu Lia said calmly. "I was visiting my auntie in Changsha at the time and couldn't have gotten away from it if I tried. Wouldn't be surprised if that's why Wu Fan left Changsha in such a hurry and came to Beijing..."

His heart aching and his mind ready to explode with all the questions he wanted to ask, Chanyeol was startled by a hand on his shoulder, whirling around to find Kris watching him with an odd expression on his face. 

"Are you ok, Chanyeol?" Kris asked quietly, his expression changing to one of concern.

"No...I mean...yeah, I'm fine," Chanyeol replied, not meeting Kris' eyes as he pushed past his boyfriend and headed toward the elevators. "I'm tired and just want to sleep..."

Staring after Chanyeol with his lips set in a thin line, Kris gave the gossiping girls an evil glare before following him, his shoulders stiff with tension. He'd heard what the girls had said about him and Yixing, and he knew Chanyeol had heard it too, but for some reason had chosen not to say anything to him about it despite the younger man's normally insatiable curiosity. Kris would have to do something about it, even if it meant bringing forward a few of his plans.

 

Because Chanyeol was avoiding him, Kris watched him even more, while doing his best to see to it that he didn't hear anything more, making sure to book out the rest of the hotel for the duration of their stay in Beijing. He wanted no more repeats of the gossipy girls who'd turned Chanyeol into a jumpy mess whenever Kris so much as looked at him when they weren't in the public eye. Even when they were in public, Chanyeol drifted further away from Kris than he ever had done before, leading to all sorts of speculative articles in the local papers on the nature of Chanyeol's relationship with his bodyguard.

Kris wasn't above using any means he had at his disposal, whether it was threats of bodily harm or blackmail, to get them to stop, but it worked and the stories abruptly ceased as if they'd never existed at all, even being scrubbed from the internet servers. That didn't fool Kris (or Chanyeol, for that matter, who knew about the stories being published, without Kris' knowledge) into believing the stories or the speculation had gone away. If anything, it had probably just made it worse, but as long as it wasn't public, soon enough, they'd find someone else to hound and harrass to death and drop them like yesterday's rubbish. 

By the night before Chanyeol's return to the Bejing stage, Kris had had enough of Chanyeol avoiding him and giving him excuse after excuse of why he didn't want to sleep with him, even if all they did was just that, _sleep_. He didn't want to hear that Chanyeol was too tired, or too busy, or had a fucking party to attend, or even all of the above. They were going to sort this out, whatever it was that was obviously causing Chanyeol sleepless nights, his eyes ringed in dark circles and his normally flawless skin starting to break out and give the make-up artists fits.

Grabbing Chanyeol's arm as he gave Kris another of his blinding but all-too-obviously-fake smiles and began to mumble an excuse, Kris tugged and hauled the younger man into his hotel room and practically tossed him onto the bed. Locking the door behind him, he stood in front of it, his expression forbidding as Chanyeol stared at him from the bed, his face showing the first faint signs of fear.

"What do you want?" Chanyeol asked, scooting backward on the bed until he was sitting against the headboard, his eyes wide. "You...you're scaring me, Kris..."

"Why are you being ridiculous and avoiding me?" Kris demanded, letting the hurt he felt seep into his voice. "If you want to break up, then just say so. I'm a big boy. I can handle it calmly, believe it or not..."

"And I don't even know what I've done," he added tiredly, running a hand through his hair in agitation. He had an idea, but he needed Chanyeol to confirm it. "One minute we were fine, then...we weren't. Tell me what's wrong, Chanyeol. What has you so upset that you're scared and avoiding me?"

As Chanyeol opened his mouth to reply, Kris held up a hand. "Don't lie to me," he said softly, his eyes on Chanyeol's face. "I know you are, so please don't insult my intelligence, or yours, by denying it."

Chanyeol looked away, sighing as he tried to work out how to explain how unsettled he'd been feeling ever since he'd overheard those girls gossiping about Kris' past. 

"Those girls," he finally said, unable to meet Kris' eyes. "They were talking about you...and two others..." Grabbing a pillow and holding it in front of him like a feather-filled shield, Chanyeol went on. "They made it sound like you'd killed them. Someone called Yixing from Changsha, and another one named Lu Han..."

After a long tension-filled silence, Chanyeol risked a glance at Kris, surprised to see the sorrow in his eyes. Had he...?

"Kris?" he asked softly, his voice shaking. "Did you...?" He kept his eyes on the older man, expecting anything but for Kris to sink to the floor, his back pressed against the door, his head in his hands. "Kris?"

"Didn't I tell you not to believe everything you heard?" Kris asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "I knew they'd say something that would hurt you..." He wasn't ready for this, he realised, but neither of them had any choice. He had to tell Chanyeol the truth, _show_ him, if necessary. 

"I didn't kill Yixing..." He looked up at Chanyeol, his eyes sad as he looked straight at him. "You did." When Chanyeol's eyes widened in disbelief and shock, Kris went on almost desperately. "Listen to me, Chanyeol. We've known each other longer than you think. I didn't just come into your life after Baekhyun died. I've always been with you for as long as I can remember, even if you don't..."

"No, that's not...I didn't!" Chanyeol was shocked and angry, throwing the pillow to the floor and rising to his knees. "Why are you lying to me? We met a few months after Baekhyun died, when the agency hired you to be my bodyguard. I remember that day! You were scary even then..." He trailed off as Kris shook his head, his hands over his face again. "I was afraid of you, so you took me out..." Lost in his memories, Chanyeol continued speaking, a faraway look in his eyes. "We got drunk together and had a lot of fun and suddenly it was like I'd known you forever..." 

"Chanyeol, we _have_ known each other practically forever," Kris said quietly, staring at a spot on the floor just in front of the bed. "Your body remembers, even if your mind doesn't want to. I can certainly understand why, because even back then, you didn't like killing people. It's why you left me..."

Kris' expression hardened, reminding Chanyeol of when he first remembered meeting him. 

"But EXO doesn't let anyone go that easily, especially not you." He looked up at Chanyeol again, regret and pain in his eyes. "You were almost killed trying to escape. That's why you don't remember me. Us. Anything before your life as a pop idol." 

"It took me a long time to find you and when I did...you were with someone else." Kris could feel the pain of betrayal even now. "I wanted to get you back..." 

Chanyeol's eyes widened. "You killed Baekhyun, didn't you?" he asked, grief in his voice. "I knew he didn't kill himself. He had too much to live for. How could you? I loved him! Did you kill Lu Han or was that me, again?"

"It was a job, Chanyeol." Kris sounded more weary than Chanyeol had ever heard him sound before and that shocked him. "I was told to kill him. It wasn't my choice. Even if I wanted you back so badly it hurt, I couldn't do that to you. You were happy with him..."

"But when the EXO Organisation tells you to jump, you don't even ask how high, you just do it. I'm sorry." 

This last was whispered with such pain in Kris' voice that Chanyeol couldn't help but believe him. At least he had some answers about Baekhyun's death, even if they weren't what he'd expected or wanted.

As for Lu Han's death... "Yes, that was me," Kris added softly, his eyes on his hands. "As I said, it was my job..."

"But if you're here with me..." Chanyeol looked thoughtful, turning over everything Kris had told him in his mind. "Someone wants me dead, don't they? You're here to kill me." Somehow this realisation didn't scare him as much as it had just a few minutes before. 

The way Kris stiffened and looked away told Chanyeol he was right and he sighed. "Do it. Go ahead..." he murmured, getting off the bed and walking toward where Kris was still sitting on the floor. "If someone wants me dead that badly, then just kill me..." 

He gave a sharply bitter laugh. "I don't have anything to live for now, do I? I'm apparently some killer with amnesia, or so you say..." Chanyeol knelt in front of Kris, leaning close to him so he had no choice but to look at the younger man, his eyes shadowed with sorrow. "But I warn you. It won't be as easy to kill me as you think."

Smirking at Kris' suddenly wary expression, Chanyeol moved back and stood up. "Where do you keep it?" He looked down at Kris. "Your gun. Or whatever it is you use to kill people with."

Getting to his feet, Kris sighed. "I don't," he murmured, a faint smile on his face as Chanyeol blinked at him. "Use a gun, I mean..." Maybe Chanyeol remembered more than he was letting on if he knew... "Or at least, not all the time. That would be too obvious and kind of boring, especially for people like us..." 

He gave Chanyeol a hard look. "Why do you think they sent me, instead of Junmyeon or anyone else who they could have sent?"

"People like us?" Chanyeol asked, a faint smirk on his face. "You mean people who can do things like this?" He lifted up his hand, the smirk dropping as he concentrated, flames suddenly appearing in the palm of his hand. He blinked at the mention of Junmyeon, the name stirring something inside of him that suspiciously felt like rage.

"So you do remember some things," Kris replied, his eyes on Chanyeol's hand. "Do you remember this?" Before Chanyeol could say anything, he was forced backward by a strong gust of wind, Kris straddling him as he fell onto the bed onto his back, their faces mere inches apart. "Did you forget I have powers too?"

"I...don't understand," Chanyeol murmured, confusion on his face. "How? What am I, and what are you? You said we were killers..." 

"We are. Or rather, you were," Kris said, still straddling him but sitting up to look down at Chanyeol thoughtfully. "You left, and now I want you to help me leave." At the look of wary shock and confusion that still remained in Chanyeol's eyes, he sighed. "I have plans but I need your help." Carefully getting off Chanyeol, he sat beside him on the bed. "I may have to kill you yet..." 

Chanyeol sat up and put his hand on Kris' chest. "You still haven't explained everything," he complained, almost sounding childish. "I want to know why I have these powers, why I can't die no matter what I do, and what is really going on. You know, don't you? Why someone wants me dead..."

 

Closing his eyes, Kris took a deep breath before opening them again. "Do you trust me?" he asked softly, leaning over to kiss Chanyeol, a simple press of the lips. "It's not just your life riding on this now, but mine too..." When Chanyeol nodded without hesitation, Kris smiled, a genuine smile that very people saw. 

"After I've told you everything, we'll have to work out what to do," he murmured, sitting back to look at Chanyeol carefully. "But you already know the most important part of it..." 

"Oh?" Chanyeol asked, confused. "The killing me part?" Pouting when Kris sighed with exasperation and shook his head, he glared at the other man. "Then what's more important for me to know that doesn't involved someone wanting me dead?" 

"Think about it, silly," Kris grinned, flicking Chanyeol's forehead. "Our powers. You and me are special, in a lot more ways than you think..." 

The smile dropped as he looked away. 

"Which is one of the reasons they want you dead. They don't want anyone with our powers running around doing things without their say-so, for one thing." He gave a bitter smile. "They wanted us under their control, doing things they want us to do. Having minds of our own wasn't counted on or desired as assassins..." 

"I don't want to kill people," Chanyeol murmured, his eyes sad. "I can't. It's wrong, Kris. I just...can't." 

"I know that, Chanyeol," Kris replied gently, putting an arm around the younger man and pulling him close. "Why do you think I want out too? I don't like it any more than you did, but without a way out, they're going to kill us both." 

"And our powers aren't enough to stop them..." he added softly, sighing. "I had been making plans but I'm not sure they'll be enough. Maybe enough to get them off your back, but mine...? I don't know..."

"Tell me what you were going to do," Chanyeol said quietly, pulling away. "Maybe I can find a way for us to get free..." 

"To do that, I need to tell you what you are..." Kris replied, staring down at his hands as if they held the secrets of the universe. "You already know you have the power of fire, yes?" He glanced at Chanyeol and saw him nod, his normally expressive face impassive. "You are much more than just that. You're a phoenix..." 

Chanyeol blinked, his face going pale. "I'm a what?" he asked, his voice soft, not quite sure he believed Kris. 

"A phoenix. In Chinese, you're what we call 'fènghuáng'," Kris repeated patiently, smiling faintly at Chanyeol's expression. "That is why you can't die, no matter what you do, and please don't tell me you did what I think you did?" 

His expression was pained as he looked at Chanyeol, only for the younger man to turn away in shame. 

"Ok, I won't tell you, then," Chanyeol tried to joke, though from the expression on Kris' face, it failed miserably. "You don't know what it was like," he went on, trying to explain himself. "How much I loved Baekhyun and needed him." 

"It hurt so much I couldn't live without him but when I tried to kill myself, all that ended up happening was me waking up without so much as a physical scratch, but with all the mental and emotional pain magnified. I couldn't understand why I couldn't just end it, to be with him, but..." 

He shrugged and sighed. "Now I do. I'm a phoenix, and that's what we do, right?" His tone was slightly bitter with a hint of deep sorrow that made Kris wince. "So, you've told me what I am. What are you? A phoenix too?" 

Shaking his head, Kris sighed. "We don't really have time to get into this, but no, I am not a phoenix. The situation would be both easier and harder if I were..."

"What are you then?" Chanyeol asked, sitting back on his heels to watch Kris. This was the most they'd ever talked since they'd 'met' and he was learning new things about his boyfriend every moment. "If this is going to work, you have to be honest with me, Kris. I deserve to know the truth..."

When he realised Chanyeol wasn't going to back down, Kris pulled his knees up to his chest and sighed again. "I can't show you, for obvious reasons, but I'm a dragon." At Chanyeol's snort of amused disbelief, Kris looked slightly offended. "I can fly..." 

Making vague flapping motions with his hands, Kris was stung when Chanyeol laughed. 

"Hey, it's not funny!" he protested in annoyance, giving Chanyeol a sour look when he didn't stop laughing, tears leaking from the sides of his eyes as he slapped at his knee and howled with laughter. "Fine, if you think it's so hysterical, I won't tell you anything..." he sulked, looking away.

Getting a grip on his amusement, Chanyeol grinned. "Awww, don't be like that," he crooned, his grin widening as Kris looked sullen. "You're so cute..." 

A dragon, huh. In an odd way, it made sense; he was Chinese after all, and they were famous for dragons. Although those had been legends, not real. But he was a phoenix, so why couldn't Kris be a dragon? 

"So how are the phoenix and the dragon going to escape the clutches of the bad guy?" he added, doing his best to keep a straight face. Kris had been adorable with his little flapping motions and weird facial expressions. 

Giving Chanyeol a death glare, Kris sighed. "It's not funny, Chanyeol. It's serious. While you can't exactly die in the common sense, I can, so if they get me...it's game over." That got Chanyeol's attention, his expression sobering. "As I said before, I might have to kill you for this to work, though I would prefer not to have to do it unless absolutely necessary..." 

"How else are they going to believe you, though?" Chanyeol asked quietly, fiddling with his shirt hem. "And I won't be afraid, as long as it's you..." 

"But that's the problem," Kris replied tiredly, running a hand through his messy hair. "EXO knows you're a phoenix so it will be harder to convince them you're actually dead without physical evidence that they can see, and without you suddenly popping up elsewhere to prove otherwise. You'd have to disappear...for life, pretty much."

And so would he. Did Chanyeol realise he wouldn't be able to be in the public eye anymore, doing the job he quite clearly enjoyed more than his former life as an assassin?

Biting on his lip, Chanyeol looked thoughtful. "Then that's what we'll have to do," he murmured, his eyes shadowed as he watched Kris from under his fringe of blond hair. "I know it won't be easy but we can do it. Why else were we given these powers? I can't believe it's to do the dirty work for others..." 

"I want to live a life for myself, not for others..." he added as Kris looked at him in surprise. Perhaps he'd given this more thought than he'd known. "I can't do that as an assassin or as an idol. While I have to admit it was fun, without Baekhyun..." He blinked at Kris, his eyes sad. "Or you... I don't want it anymore." 

"Don't you even want to know who's got it in for you, or why?" Kris asked. 

"Will it affect the outcome?" Chanyeol asked, shrugging. "I don't really care, to be honest. It's bad enough someone does, for whatever reasons they might have."

"It could, that's why you need to know," Kris replied, his eyes narrowed. "It's the head of the EXO Organisation himself, and he wants you dead because you defied him. As I said before, nobody leaves EXO. Not alive."

"Not until you, and it's a bad precedent to set for the others who might try to leave too." He gave a mirthless smile. "Like me." 

Chanyeol wasn't surprised to hear it came from the top. It usually did, decisions like this. "Like I said, you're going to have to kill me then, for it to work." He gave Kris an uncomfortable look. "I know you don't want it, but...there's no way around it. Not if you want out too..." 

He looked apologetic. "I have nothing left to lose, and it seems neither do you."

Scrambling to Chanyeol's side, Kris grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. "You shouldn't be talking like that!" It made Kris' heart stop every time Chanyeol talked about the possibility of his death. "We have to believe it'll work, that we can get away..."

"Then tell me what you had planned and we'll go from there," Chanyeol said quietly, looking away. "We have to plan carefully, and I know you're good at that..."

Giving Chanyeol a searching look, Kris eventually sighed and let him go, going to rummage through his bag before bringing a folder to the bed. 

"This is all I have, so far," he said, opening the folder and spreading the contents out between them. "Any ideas?"

It took most of what remained of the night for them to work out a plan that they were both reasonably happy with, Kris doing most of the explaining with a little input from Chanyeol. Letting the younger man sleep in the early hours, Kris pored over the documents and plans to make sure he couldn't find any holes in them before going to sleep himself, slipping into bed beside his lover and kissing his cheek gently. 

"We can do this," he murmured softly, allowing him the rare luxury of believing he could escape and be with Chanyeol, free to live their lives as _they_ chose. "And never forget, whatever happens, I love you..."

Turning sleepily in his arms, Chanyeol gave Kris a heartbreakingly sweet smile. "I love you too," he mumbled, slipping back into sleep a moment later, leaving Kris with an ache in his chest as he held Chanyeol close. This had to work. If he lost Chanyeol...

 

Everything was slated to happen in the middle of Chanyeol's Beijing tour. Kris waited anxiously backstage as Chanyeol began his performance as usual, screaming fans out front and an equally screaming stage manager, having fits over something or other. Kris kept a careful eye on the man; if he was too observant, all their hard work would be undone. But right on time, everything fell into place, the distraction Chanyeol had planned going off without a hitch.

"What do you mean the lights have gone off?" the stage manager shouted into his microphone, looking panicked as Kris glanced in his direction. "They were checked and double-checked. I'm coming up there..." 

After the man had gone to check on the suddenly-malfunctioning lights, Kris smiled, but didn't allow himself to relax just yet, until the screaming of the fans changed, the sound more panicked and confused than adoring. The stage shuddered and Kris instantly sprang to alertness, running up the stairs in time to see almost the entire lighting set, crumpled and still shooting sparks, on the stage instead of above it. Chanyeol was nowhere to be seen and Kris' heart skipped a beat.

"Chanyeol!" he shouted, running onto the stage and pulling at the staging like a madman, screaming Chanyeol's name as he saw a body under the mangled wreckage. Camera flashes whitened his vision for a moment but he didn't let that stop him, using his strength to heave the lights off Chanyeol and throwing it to the side. 

"Chanyeol...no..." he murmured, pulling his lover's body to him and seeing, for the first time, just how much blood there was. "Please..."

Chanyeol's eyes opened and he smiled faintly at Kris. "It hurts," he whispered, blood trickling from his mouth as soon as he spoke. "This better be worth it..." 

He smiled again before the light died in his eyes and Kris went rigid, unable to believe this was really happening. Pushed to the side as the emergency crews arrived, Kris watched with a stunned expression as they removed Chanyeol's broken body (pronouncing him dead in front of Kris, the shocked fans, and media crew) and the wreckage of the lighting, only regaining his senses when he realised the ambulance was about to leave without him. He couldn't let them take Chanyeol away without him, and he ran, frantic as he arrived just in time.

Shuddering with reaction as soon as the doors closed behind him and the ambulance began to leave, Kris took Chanyeol's bloodied hand in his and began to pray to every God he'd ever heard of to make sure Chanyeol would revive like the phoenix he was supposed to be. A hand on his shoulder startled him and he looked up to see a surprisingly familiar face. 

"Junmyeon?" he asked, confusion making him wary. "What are you doing here?"

"Chanyeol contacted me and asked me to help," Junmyeon smiled gently, his grip on Kris' shoulder firm. "He told me what you'd planned, and wanted me to make sure the ambulance that picked you up was friendly. To ensure you both made it out safely." 

He chuckled softly. 

"I'm surprised he remembered me, actually," Junmyeon added, his expression sad. "After all, I nearly killed him last time we spoke to each other..."

"Why are you doing this?" Kris was baffled. Junmyeon was number two after him in the EXO Organisation, and had a vested interest in seeing to it that Kris didn't leave. What did this even mean? And how had Chanyeol managed to do this without him knowing? "You're..."

"You're not the only one who wants to leave," Junmyeon said quietly. "I'm tired too, and just want to be happy. I've found someone worth protecting, and if EXO finds out...they'll tell me to kill him, and I just can't." He shrugged. "So we made a deal. In exchange for my help, you get me out too. And he agreed to forget about my trying to kill him before..."

Junmyeon looked at Kris, hope shining in his eyes. "So, will you help me?" He looked toward where the driver of the ambulance sat, the young man's dark hair a contrast to the clean white of the ambulance's interior, a smile on his face that Kris had never seen before. "Help us?"

"He's your lover, isn't he?" Kris jerked his head in the driver's direction with a sigh. He didn't really have any choice, and thanked his over-cautious self for making sure they'd had more than one alternate identity planned, just in case. 

When Junmyeon nodded, that same radiant smile on his face, Kris rubbed his hand over his face and nodded. 

"Ok, we've got you covered," he said eventually, oddly relieved that they wouldn't be alone in this. "Does he know?" When Junmyeon gave him a quizzical glance, Kris clarified his comment. "What we did? What you do, and what will be expected of him now that we're all on the run?" His gaze was firm. "And what could happen if we're ever found?"

"Yes," Junmyeon nodded. "He knows it all. I'm pretty lucky to have Kyungsu. He's kept me sane for far longer than I care to admit." He sighed and glanced toward the driver again. "He knows exactly what he's getting himself into and he still loves me. I think that's almost scarier than being an assassin, really." Junmyeon smiled suddenly. "But it will be worth it. You'll have Chanyeol, I'll have Kyungsu, and we'll all have the chance, finally, to be happy."

Kris nodded thoughtfully, a smile coming to his face as he realised the grip on his hand was being returned. Chanyeol was waking up and Junmyeon was right.

"So," he said conversationally as he sat back, a faintly amused smile on his face. "How's your Chinese?" Grinning as Junmyeon stared at him with mild panic on his face, Kris couldn't help but feel optimistic. Chanyeol was indeed bulletproof, and so was their relationship. Everything else, he'd take as it came.


End file.
